WITH POLL:
Just buy the building | Art & Power

A&P Commission director Marilyn Heifner (right) leads commissioner Bob Davis (center), Fayetteville Underground board president Cathy Bass (left), and other commission members on a tour of the old post office building in January.

Staff photo, Fayetteville Flyer

Today, the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission considers the purchase of the Old Post Office after learning the 1911 building appraised at less than 50 percent of the asking price.
Owner Ron Bumpass’s $1.5 million asking price is ridiculous. The Old Post Office was recently appraised at $730,000.

Ridiculous can still be a starting point for negotiations.

We’re at a critical moment. I implore the commission to buy the building, literally in the middle of the city square and virtually vacant since Urban Table Bar & Grill closed in late 2008. Please put it to civic use.

{democracy:103}

Bumpass’s offer should not be accepted as is. Negotiations must continue and commissioners should err on the side of purchase, not thrift. The thought of that silent building roaring to life with new civic purpose is too viable a dream to give up on without a fight.

I want to own part of that building along with all of you.

Unfortunately, a shadow hangs over the entire affair. The commission’s executive director, Marilyn Heifner, lied to Northwest Arkansas Times reporter Joel Walsh about receiving Bumpass’s latest offer. Her lie denied the public a full view into how their money might be spent.

Heifner violated the state’s Freedom of Information Act, yet the commission voted 4-2 to reinstate her. Notably the two dissenters were elected officials, Mayor Lioneld Jordan and Alderman Justin Tennant. They are both strong proponents of the city’s effort toward transparency in government.

Commissioner Bob Davis offered this curious and slightly offensive “City of Second Chances” excuse as an explanation for reinstating Heifner.

I think Fayetteville has proven itself to be a different type of city. A city that understands that in our pursuit of honesty, integrity, ethics and results, we all sometimes fail. We all fall short of perfection … there are people in positions of leadership in this city who have made serious and very public mistakes. People who have stolen money from taxpayers and been allowed to cover up, people who have taken things that were not theirs to take, and we as a city have determined that those people were not beyond being given a second chance. In fact, considering some of our city’s most visible and prominent leaders, you could say that Fayetteville is a city of second chances

Davis’s statement is odd in that it holds up our city’s leaders as criminals to provide evidence of our strong belief in redemption. Huh?

We must move forward from the entire Heifner affair. We should not let that shadow deter from the important task at hand – buying the building.

Don’t let this opportunity to take a building which has been in private hands for several decades slip away. No one wants to look back in five or ten years and wonder what could have been if the Old Post Office were a home for the Fayetteville Underground, an indoor expansion to the Farmer’s Market or a civic center in the very heart of the city.

Commissioners, loosen the purse strings of our money again to ensure we can make the Old Post Office a public building that will serve the entire community, not just concertgoers.

Another potential distraction is Gina Scarpino and Richard Berquist’s offer of the Scarpino building to the commission. It’s a nice building and they are nice people. The offer is for more than 6,000 square feet close to Dickson Street with a $990,000 price tag.

Not bad, but compare that to Old Post Office’s 14,278 square feet at $1.5 million and add in the historical significance, the prime location and the emotional affection people have for the building, and you see there’s no comparison between the two.

Commissioner Davis told the Northwest Arkansas Times recently that he was comfortable with the commission’s initial offer of $1 million for the Old Post Office, but felt that the $1.5 million price was too high.

I agree. Let’s negotiate. Davis said Scarpino is not the location he prefers. Again, I agree.

“The OPO would be my first choice, because, not only is it a historical facility, but it’s important to the community,” Davis told the Northwest Arkansas Times. “You don’t have that at the other location.”

No, Commissioner Davis, you don’t.

Negotiate for us with our money, commissioners. Know that we support your purchase. Try to get us the best price possible so we can move into the Old Post Office as soon as possible.

Christopher SpencerArt & Power is written by Christopher Spencer of Fayetteville. It represents his personal opinions on the intersection of arts and politics. Spencer is an employee of the University of Arkansas and serves as the president of the nonprofit Creative Economy Action Group Inc. He’s previously worked for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the Northwest Arkansas Times. You can always find him on Twitter at cspencer75 or by e-mailing christopher@ozarksunbound.com.

Discussion

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chedie

Marilyn Heifner should be fired, or resign on her own. The commision has zero credibility with the public as long as she remains.

http://ozarksunbound.com Christopher Spencer

Thanks for commenting, Chedie. It seems to me, what’s done is done with concern to the FOIA violation. There’s no recourse. They majority of people on the commission are appointed, not elected.

Still, let’s not scrap the whole deal just because it now bears that shadow. I think the commission has the ability to do something very awesome for Fayetteville as long as they get us a good price on the Old Post Office.

mpetty

“as long as they get us a good price” is the important part of your comment. How does the Commission do that when their initial offer was inflated past the value determined by the appraisal? The first rule of negotiating is to offer less than you are willing to give; the second rule is to let the other party make the first concession. The Commission already broke both rules, and any chance of getting a good price is probably long gone.

I typed and retyped two more paragraphs for this comment, but decided to delete them because they were just rants. Purchasing this building was a phenomenal opportunity and it makes me so frustrated to see the negotiations mishandled at every step. I wish I could make a suggestion for how to proceed, but I don’t see any opportunities for fixing this other than being prepared to walk away and come back with a more informed offer after time has passed.

http://ozarksunbound.com Christopher Spencer

Hey Matthew,

I think $1 million is a fair price for the building, despite the $730,000 appraisal. There are intangibles there that aren’t factored in to the equation such as historic significance and community sentiment. It’s a building that almost demands to be put to public service.

The current asking point is too high, but something around $1.2 million to buy it outright feels tolerable given the “phenomenal opportunity.” At $1.3 million or higher, things get more sketchy.

I really hope the commission doesn’t walk away, but I also feel that $1.5 million is too high. This is an investment with far-reaching community effects, so I’m willing to forgive a little overspending.

I feel that Bumpass and the commission can reach some sort of accord on this between the two price tags.

mpetty

I agree with all of your points. The appraisal does take those factors into consideration, but it determines value based on present conditions. I agree that a purchase point higher than the appraisal can still be fair because of the points you mentioned, but using an arbitrary initial offer as the base for those allowances is improper.

I’m not going to argue for or against a specific price at this point, so perhaps I should have withheld my comments. I just can’t get over how screwed up this negotiation was from the beginning. It’s possible we wouldn’t be having this conversation is the first offer had been informed by an appraisal.

Morgan

I agree we don’t throw out the baby with the bath water. I stated and believe still she should have been fired but I didn’t get a vote in that matter. So moving on!

You feel there is approximately $500,000 worth of sentimental and intangible value to that building? Half a million dollars worth? You are suggesting a price at $1.2 million that is more than 60% of what the appraisal has the value as listed. I don’t think I’m on board with that much of an increase above the appraisal. That would have to buy a hell of a lot more sentimental value and intangible value for me to agree with.

And finally, what the bleep was the commission thinking when they made an offer of $1,000,000 without even bothering to have an appraisal done first? Seriously, that’s something like buying a luxury used car without test driving it first.

Hopefully the deal gets worked out in a manner that everyone wins and no one (ie the taxpayers) overpays a huge amount. It is a lovely building and it would be great to see it put to real community use.

mpetty

For once, Morgan and I agree on something publicly. I think I’ll mark the occasion on my calendar.

Dennis

When this was brought before the commission, I was under the impression that it was presented as needing approval to accept an offer to lease, and then purchase for $1M. I did not realized it was approval to present an offer to bring to Bumpass until this thing blew up in Marilyn’s face. I agree with Matthew that this was mishandled, and the offer should never have been made without an appraisal. As to Scarpino’s, there is no point to that at all. The OPO was about jumping on what appeared to be a unique opportunity. The commission should not be shopping for an “events” building. This continues to be a mess, and I think, not only should Heifner resign, so should the 4 commissioners who voted to keep her.

http://ozarksunbound.com Christopher Spencer

@Morgan – Yes, I feel like the opportunity and importance of this building is important enough that $500,000 over the appraised value is tolerable to take public control of such a landmark building and put it to civic use. I don’t like paying that much and I can respect that people would set their limits lower. I’m surprised also there was no assessment initially made before negotiations began.

@Dennis – If I remember the process correctly, the commission expressed interest in the building late last year. With their approval, the executive director negotiated and worked up a proposal, supposedly in concert with building owner Ron Bumpass. I think that was the first $5,000 a month for a year and $1 million purchase price which the commission was comfortable with approving in December. Bumpass then came back after this first negotiation and said he wanted $7,500 a month with a $1.5 million purchase price. Everything has struggled to remain on task from that point forward.

And yes, I agree. This was a unique situation and opportunity. I don’t think the commission should be building shopping for other properties.